Homecoming [ semi-closed, Hipparon Tribe RP ]

[K'haali]

"I'm as sure as Azeyma is radiant." K'haali replied, picking out a pea-sized nugget and attempting to deform the surface with her nail, leaving a faint scratch in the dim light of the tent, before testing it's weight.

 

"When the piece of dalamud struck the plains, it shattered the land, gouging out canyons and thrusting up entire sections of the land. Close to the river I spoke of, half a day North-West of the goobue, between two such broken pieces of ground I found the land had broken to form a grotto, which the sun was perfectly positioned to see into. "

 

"Inside, the walls had been scorched in the moons descent and a glint of gold caught the sunlight. I managed to prize away a few tiny nuggets that had melted out in the heat. When I scratched away the burned rock it revealed an entire vein bisected when the ground split open. This is nothing more than a sample of what awaits, given time and proper tools"

 

K'haali looks slightly hesitant.

 

"But, I do worry, this could be as much as a curse as a blessing. With this we could buy the land outright, even outsiders could not argue with our right to settle there. But once we start trading gold, they will inevitably want to know where it came from; we'd need to own the land before we begin exploiting it, even then there is no guarantee they will still respect our claim.

 

We'd need backing we could trust"

[Lyraciilee]

K'luha was glad to see both K'haali praised, and K'takka pleased. Out of all of them, K'haali really had done the most work. Not to mention she was completely uninvolved in all of the more dramatics of the adventure. Which left K'luha with only bad news to speak up, and terrible things to take credit for. For a brief moment, she wished she could be more useful like K'haali. K'luha folded her hands into her lap and nervously held them together. If the elders wanted to see Tahj, they should see her now that K'haali was mostly done speaking.

 

"They would probably not respect our claim for gold. They are greedy in that way." K'luha frowned, speaking from experience. As she was the one who had the most interactions with the bottom feeding city scum, her words might mean something. "However, if we trade in small quantities over large areas, it won't attract as much attention. As I usually trade in Ul'dah, if I trade in several locations we could still profit from the gold, and this way we won't have a bunch of Ul'dahs at our throats." The suggestion, K'luha felt, was sufficient and she turned her head back around to look towards the tent entrance.

 

"Tahj? Tahj, you can come in now." Luha called warmly. She didn't want to worry her niece, but she was rather terrified the elders were going to be harsh on her.

[Izmina]

Feeling the light touch on her hand, Tahj turned with a smile to K'mih, only to have it fade to puzzlement as her sister dashed off like she'd seen a ghost. She glanced around to see what could have frightened the girl but saw only the male by the tent. She didn't have time to think on it long, as she heard K'luha's voice call to her from inside the large tent.

 

Tahj was sure she was going to be sick, never had she been so nervous. She paused just before entering, eyes closed, to gather her wits and attempt to control her flip-flopping stomach. Taking a deep breath, she nodded respectfully to the male and pushed open the tent flap and stepped inside.

 

Taking a second to let her eyes adjust to the absence of blinding light, Tahj spotted her aunt and K'haali, and moved to be closer to them. Surprise registered briefly on her face as she spotted the elders, surely she had never seen a miqo'te so old. Recovering her wits and manners quickly, Tahj forced her ears and tail to a more respectful, yet friendly postion and remembering handshakes might be appropriate, she thought for a second as to how to greet such respected personalities. She swung into a deep bow and spoke clearly with a voice that didn't shake too much,"Hello I'm K'tahjha Yohko, but my friends call me Tahj."

[Twinflame]

Leaving K'haali with a reassuring smile and a pat on the hand, K'takka retreated back to her skins like a snake backing into a den. Her pallid eyes flickered at K'tahjha, and her hands worked the bright pillow she held to her chest. She hummed sadly and said, "K'tahjha Yohko, hm? I was hoping you would look like your father. There's too much..." the old woman hesitated, and gave a wary look to the other two Elders. She finished, "Too much Haaz in you."

 

Unspoken was that K'tahjha looked very much like the daughter of the other two Elders, K'deiki and K'jhanhi. Actually, she looked just as much like a youthful apparition of K'deiki herself. Light skin and light hair, strange green eyes.

[K'haali]

With a respectful duck of the head, K'haali withdrew into the shadows of the tent, and slipped outside in a brief flash of sunlight. She gave a relieved sigh and beamed into the sun, though keeping her eyes tight shut against the blinding sunlight in such contrast the darkness of the tent. All things considered the meeting had gone very well...

 

K'haali chuckled a little to herself. 

 

The elder had managed to tell her as much in just a few words and a gentle touch, as a whole sheaf of notes and talking had taken her. She was sure there was a lesson to take home in that somewhere... home; She'd need to figure out where they had stowed her personal belongings before she could truly say she was home, and then she'd...

 

 

...what exactly? Normality was going to take getting used to again.

[Naunet]

As K'haali made her swift exit, the old man in the back of the tent let out a low, rattling breath and stepped forward. Yellow eyes squinted for several seconds at K'tahjha in complete silence before his thin lips twisted the wrinkles in his face to pull into a smirk.

 

"Or not enough," he added to K'takka's comment.

 

K'deiki lifted a hand and moved forward so that she was less than a foot from K'tahjha. Milky eyes smiled sadly as she reached out with withered hands from the folds of her clothing to touch the girl's shoulders, then her face. "Your mother's is an unfortunate tale," she told the girl. "Tell me, how do you feel about coming to us?"

[Izmina]

K'tahjha smiled hesitantly, not really understanding what seemed to be a joke between the elders,"I am nervous, it's a big change from what I'm used to." here she paused and sought eye contact with each elder before continuing,"But mama always told me that family was more important than anything, I'm excited to come to mama's home and the family she loved very much." falling silent Tahj stepped closer to her aunt letting her hand brush the top of her head seeking to draw comfort and confidence from the contact.

[Lyraciilee]

K'luha was just as nervous as Tahj, perhaps more so. Since it had all been her fault to begin with... she wanted desperately to make things right for Tahj. She should have been here all along with her family. Maka should have never had to die alone out in the burning forest.

 

For a moment, K'luha looked to the floor with pain in her eyes. Maka... if only Maka had told the truth to the elders. If she had just admitted it was all Luha's fault then... then Tahj could have still had her mother. And K'ailia perhaps would have been raised better by Maka than K'luha seemed to have done.

 

When K'luha looked back up it was because Tahj touched her hand. Luha took Tahj's hand in her own and gave her a reassuring squeeze. K'haali seemed to have vanished from the tent. It was just like her not to remain for longer than needed.

 

Luha looked to her grandmother with pained and pleading eyes. They couldn't send Tahj back now. Not when K'luha had dragged her out here to the damn desert away from her home. Not when... K'luha tried not to think on it and instead looked at K'deiki again.

[Naunet]

K'deiki kept a hand on K'tahjha's shoulder as the girl shuffled to K'luha in clear discomfort. The resemblance to her last, remaining daughter was almost painful, and the elder gave a silent thanks to the Warden that Her protective gaze had extended beyond the reaches of the Sagolii for this young girl.

 

"She looks as though her caretakers were soft," K'jhanhi rumbled, tone critical. "It's not a surprise. You said you found her in the comfort of those tree pople?"

 

K'deiki sighed at his words, the exhalation turning into a brief bout of coughing before she spoke again, "She is young. There may yet be time to teach her the right path. What say you, K'takka?"

[Twinflame]

K'takka was looking at her fingernails. Her index finger on one hand was misshapen, rigid and dark. It looked as though it had been carved from wood and melded to her hand. The long, sharp nail of that finger was individually black, contrasting the pail nails of her other fingers. Her eyes rose to consider K'deiki as though she were trying to decide whether or not the woman had gone mad.

 

Then she flicked her gaze to K'tahjha and said to the tent as a whole, "There is nothing to consider. She is the daughter of the Nunh. The 'right path' is in her blood."

[Izmina]

Her eyes closed with the waves of pure relief that were washing through her, Tahj let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. Her eyes reopen into a radiant smile,"Thank you, thank you very much!" Not thinking she leaned into K'deiki to scoop her into a hug, still mindfull of the elder's fragility.

[Naunet]

As the elder's body swayed under the hug, one arm shifted to rest lightly over K'tahjha's back, patting the girl. "As though there were ever doubt," K'deiki murmured, face creasing deeply with a smile. "It is an auspicious sign to recover family in such a way, on the eve of starting a new life." Her eyes shifted over the girl's shoulder to K'luha blurry form, locating her more by her scent than sight, and gave the woman, her own granddaughter, a knowing look.

 

"That is it, then," K'jhanhi spoke up once more. "But we have not yet heard report from all in the scouting party. What of our firedancer? And your daughter?"

[Lyraciilee]

For a moment, all of her fears faded to a warm happy sensation. The elders were happy to have Tahj in their family. And so was K'luha. She was so happy they had no debate on it. That K'ile had been right about it. And Tahj was going to stay. Oh the things K'luha could teach her. Maka would have been happy to. In a way, it felt like regaining a part of Maka that she had lost so long ago. And finally, her worry over the others had faded for a happiness she hadn't known in the last few weeks.

 

But then her grandmother addressed her. K'luha's happiness felt somewhat muted and she instead looked ashamedly to Tahj. She had so much to account for... to own up to. She was not looking forward to it.

 

"Ah, yes. Tahj, you father is the man outside the tent on the left. His name is K'yohko. Go tell him you're Maka's daughter and have him show you to my tent." K'luha smiled warmly to Tahj, masking her mounting dread. "Maybe some of the others will come to greet you as well, though I suspect that it might take some time for them to warm up to you."

[Izmina]

Tahj smiled and nodded to her aunt, then she knelt down and gently hugged K'luha and stepped out of the tent.

 

Pausing a moment to let her eyes adjust to the change in the light, Tahj felt the butterflies start up in her stomach again. Taking a deep breath to settle her nerves, Tahj stepped towards the male, her voice shook slightly but she attempted to speak clearly and make eye contact,"My name  is K'tahjha Yohko, aunt K'luha told me to ask you show me to her tent."

[Naunet]

Shuffling back a few steps to give K'luha some space, K'deiki thought first of the beads behind her in their shallow bowl, the weathered bone smoothed over by countless tiny gestures. She left a prayer in those bones as her old eyes squinted at K'luha, that Azeyma's light may give her guidance.

 

"Do not draw it out, child," she encouraged, the affectation of K'luha's name spoken with comfort.

[Lyraciilee]

K'luha waited until Tahj was out of the tent before looking back to K'deiki and the other elders. This part was... Luha looked to the ground nervously, her stomach turning nauseously. This was... she had to tell. She had to take the blame for this and..

 

Luha looked up when her grandmother called to her. She was trying to be comforting but... K'luha's ears dropped to flatten into her hair and she grasped at her tail to pull on it nervously.

 

"I don't know where K'ile went. We were talking one night and then he just... walked away. He said he would meet us in Drybone but he wasn't there. There was no sign of him. And K'ailia she... she's abandoned us." K'luha hung her head low and tried not to cry. "I'm sorry... this is my fault."

 

 

K'yohko glanced down as the child came out but K'luha did not. She seemed to have something to say, and so he listened. K'tahjha Yohko? So she was his child then. An Aunt K'luha...? The Nunh took a few moments to look her over before letting out a long breath of air.

 

"Whom was your mother?" He questioned in a smooth deep voice that was rather monotone.

[Izmina]

K'tahjha was quite sure she'd stop breathing entirely if the butterflies didn't leave her stomach, the sense of relief she felt somewhat fading in front of her rather taciturn father. Still she attempted to project confidence by keeping her ears and tail in a neutral position and seeking eye contact,"K'makanee Haaz, sir." managing to keep her voice steady.

 

Glancing back towards the tent should couldn't help but worry about her aunt and wishing she'd been allowed to stay with her, like K'luha had supported her.

[Naunet]

K'deiki's ears, the fur on them thin and patchy, lowered as K'luha spoke. The young woman's words hung heavy in the thick air of the tent between them, an aching silence following. Their firedancer and young K'ailia... gone?

 

Closing her eyes, she recalled the way the girl had come to them with bold ideas and even bolder actions, speaking of a world well beyond the Sagolii, beyond even Thanalan itself. She had worried then that K'ailia had started down a strange path, but she had put her faith in the strength of blood and the guiding light of Azeyma. She wondered if it had been a mistake to allow the scouting party.

 

"We will share your grief in your daughter's leaving," K'deiki spoke after a moment, clouded eyes on K'luha's vague shape. "To lose blood, and in times such as this... Having born witness to your daughter's words and goals, K'luha, I know there is no blame for you in this."

 

"The girl has already made her decision and we cannot change it. There is no good in worrying ourselves over it," K'jhanhi said behind her, leathery skin creased into a frown. His tone is somber, heavy with the weight of the news. "But our firedancer," something shifted in his voice, "Did you not search for him? It is not his way to disappear."

[Lyraciilee]

"K'makanee..." Yohko repeated, looking at Tahj's eyes for a few moments of silence. Maka's daughter then... and then she had been... when she was exiled. A brief and small sadness flitted through his features before it was gone, replaced with the same stony appearance as before. "Then welcome home my daughter." He faintly smiled towards Tahj and pushed himself upright to show her towards K'luha's tent. "Come." He asked before walking off towards the outer ring of tents.

 

K'luha on the other hand, felt a deep guilt biting into her chest. Had they looked for K'ile? She had looked. She had tried the best she could but...

 

"I... I tried. To look. We went to Drybone. I asked around. I searched for him the few nights we were their but I couldn't look far... my hip..." K'luha looked back down at the floor, ears flattening. "I should have looked better... I haven't the slightest clue where he could have gone..."

[Twinflame]

"Yes, you should have looked better." K'takka's voice was a grinding, earthy sound from where she huddled in the rear of the tent. The leathery skin on her face shifted in displeasure, her shining eyes squinting darkly at K'luha. "But you're here now, and he is not. Wherever he is, he has gone alone."

 

She ran her long fingernails through the fur that surrounded her, acquisitions from Ul'dah given to her by her children and grandchildren. She was sparsely decorated with gold from the city, including a band that flickered as it shook on her shivering, misshapen index finger. "Whatever his state, I am as concerned for the gemstones that he hoards upon his wrist. They could never be replaced. He needs to be found."

 

Her eyes still boring into K'luha, she said, "Why did he leave? Why? What clues did he give?"

[Lyraciilee]

Clues...? K'luha felt herself sinking to the floor under K'takka's dark gaze. She felt like a child confessing her misdeeds once again. Such a pitiful feeling... K'luha tugged and twisted on her tail in her lap, feeling like boiling under the sun would only be a minor punishment for her crimes.

 

"There were... he didn't say anything. He only left a message with the carriage driver that he would meet us in Drybone, and then didn't. I... but it's may fault he probably ran off." K'luha dropped her eyes to the floor, grasping her tail hard enough to bend it lightly and have it ache up her back. But the pain was a good distraction. "With K'aila's leaving I was... I wasn't totally right in my mind. We also ran into K'haz and I accepted aid from him, even though K'ile reminded me of our laws regarding deserters... not only that, but I... I forced K'ile to kiss me as well. If he had not been so true to our ways, I fear I may have done worse and shamed our people further. I think that he may have left to meditate and cleanse himself of my shameful acts." K'luha kept her head low and her ears flattened. It was a lie, most of it. She didn't force herself on K'ile. Even he had said she hadn't. And she hadn't actually ever gotten close to really seducing him. And K'ile hadn't told her not to accept help for K'haz, but this was the best lie she could come up with. It took the blame off of K'ile. Because if the elders had really known that he just walked off on his own with those gemstones... he might have his stupid hand cut off. Or worse. So there it was. Her lies and shame and half-truths on the table for the elders to question as they would.

[Naunet]

For a moment, K'deiki simply breathed and let K'luha's words drift into silence, let their implications settle into her weary bones and the grains of sand beneath her feet in the same manner the yearly storms set in. K'ailia's loss stung, but there was little to be done about one who would willingly split themselves from family, as much as she would grieve for the hole left by the girl's path. K'ile, on the other hand, their firedancer who held much of their spiritual center on his person...

 

"Your actions are not commendable," she finally said, and if K'luha were telling the whole truth, then this judgment was correct, if harsh. A kiss - well, it was not an uncommon quandary, and K'deiki had been young once, too. Young and supportive of a certain tia who now sat at her side with K'takka, all of them aged beyond their long years. "Meditation would not take days, though, child. The Amalj'aa extend their reach far north, do they not?" She couldn't stop the worry from creeping into her voice.

[Izmina]

Tahj puzzled briefly as to whether she actually saw the expression on her father's face change or not. Then brightened when a smile, however faint passed across his features. She gave a bright smile in return and fell into step for the short trip to her aunt's tent.

[Lyraciilee]

"No." K'luha protested sharply, shaking her head. "No, we scouted that way. He didn't... " She seemed to have gone completely pale with the idea. "H-he probably... he just w-went to... " Luha trembled and grasped her arms, holding herself together like it might stop her from shaking. "H-he'll come back...I-it's my fault he... but H-he'll come back...." K'luha's feeble protest was more to convince herself than anyone else. She had to believe he would be okay. That she would see him again. He would come home. He would.

 

K'yohko lead Tahj away through the quiet camp, ignoring the gaze of the other tribe members until he came to one of the outermost tents. He paused at it and carefully noted the chocobo who had moved to sit near the front.

 

"This is K'luha's tent." He said briefly before moving to pet K'yori's head softly. Yohko looked back to examine his daughter for another moment. He had never known Maka had gotten pregnant... A surprise to find he had yet another daughter. "You may make yourself comfortable inside."

[Izmina]

Distracted briefly by the large bird that appeared at the tent, Tahj didn't notice her father's scrutiny. Patting the chocobo, she turned to K'yohko,"Thank you, sir." and ducked into the tent.

 

The temperature dropped several degrees in the interior of the tent, at which Tahj heaved a sigh of relief. Dropping her small bag of belongings just inside the opening she peered around, there were two sleeping rolls, one with books and knickknacks around it obviously her sister's. Unsure of using that bed, Tahj slipped out of her shoes and socks and curled up in her aunt's bedroll, and comforted by the familiar scent drifted off to sleep.